The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1887-10-28

"De Oyster an de Cooa., :,

New Iork special TO The q,
Louis Republican says: ''
Frank g. egheatOn, who
be q politician in New OrIs.uasse Veg to
is now a handler Of ali sor, 1.a J, Out
ents in this city, tells the iOlIov9Isstt
story (: O"VWlag
ave used to have soma
oyster suppers in New s.eAt
The oysters when l was theTa .aOs'
so big that half dozen woO,,' ssIe
for a supper for half a doss" 70
Some OF the bayou Cook and ha us0'
Barataria oysters were q foot OsyOa
OF course they were too Inrgs !, ,Ou Y,
raw, but they made an eresI, .aI
try. The best oyster / evss ''sas
came from the edge of thu Gn,s s.e
Mexico, in the M~ississippi Soa. '!
and Lake PontchartIain befor" , ~
Bonnie Care crevasse sem ths ~. .ue
water OF the Mississippi rive, es.
into the lake aud destroyed t6s Az AZ
vOr of the bIvalyes. Do q t,aE
that raccOOnS are exceedinelv fo.S
of Oystersf Well, they are. i Ous
moonlight night | was staudiOSs ~
the gallery of the lighthouse AZ ~ n
Island, down the gulf. A party !,
us were on our way to Goose Pain,
to hunt 6rant and curlew, and. =.
we knew Sid Wilkinson, The Iigbt'
house keeper, We stopped Oyrr I,
Cat Island one evening. 1t was
beautiful night, aud though It was
in December a man scarcely fplt
the need OF all overcOat. The ,ids
was at ebb, and Cat Island anti
doomed up in the moonlight Ikea
long, black strip OF mud running
into the Sound. This spit or prom.
cntOry was mass OF oysters, which
s%puttered and snapped as they took
in the atmosphere and held social
converse with each other. YOu
could walk ont a quarter of a mile
over them without getting yonr
feet wet and e2ntAll you wanted.
That is, if You could open them, for
just as soOu as the oyster would sec
you he'd shut up his shell with d
snap like the breaking of twig. 1t
was like walking over dry brush,
the way those oysters would snap
snap Mt the approach of any one.
"Cat Island il tull Of cOOnS," COu.
tinued Mr.. Wheaton, taking a fresh
"How they got there | don't
know, us the island is twelve miles
the nearest point of the main,
| reckon they vOyaged on
Well, this night, while We
standing on the gall ry We
saw about a dozen cOOns creep out
of the spit hunting for oysters. One
old coon sneakei MP behind u big
oyster that had his shell wide open
aud stuck his paw III to get the sue.
culent bivalve. Quick az a flash
The oyster clapped down OH him aud
he coon yelled. He'd been there
before, though, and began 10 tug
1t the oyster 10 get him loose from
The mud and SAINT, bat The oyster
.aS one of "a cluster and Nas TOO
imbedIed TO be moved.
He hung to the coon like grim
Heath, aud it looked aS ii the coon
be kept prisoner. We were
50 Interested in the struggle No
to watch it. The tide turn
ID aud ut four O'clock IN the morn
ing all the other cOOns left the bpaCh
the water was too high. Ii got
aud higher; little waves
we're curling over The spit aud il
Ooked as il the coon would DO
lrow ned. lie made - last despeI-
ltely effort 10 move that oyster and
hen deliberately bit his paw of.
He left the end of il in the oyster
lnd hO6bled Of on three legs. Sid
md l ran down, aud after n search
If half an hour found the Spunky
,ySlpr as he was trying to eject the
paw aud captured him. l
eckOn that Sid has that cOOn's PIV
;et."